The Scottish Government today published the Infrastructure and Capital Investment Committee’s (ICIC) Stage 1 Report on the Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Bill yesterday. This is a landmark bill which will replace the well-known and established assured and short assured tenancy regime with a completely new Private Residential Tenancy (PRT). With the stage 1 debate in the Scottish Parliament scheduled for 21 January, the timing of this CIH event at their Edinburgh offices could not be better.

The Scottish Government is also still working with stakeholders following consultation to finalise the details of the Code of Practice and training requirements which will be integral parts of new Letting Agent Regulation. The recent Scottish Government Budget for 2016/17 and the budget pressures they face has meant there will be a delay by one year in the start of the First-tier Tribunal which would hear letting agent and PRS cases until late 2017. As Letting Agent Regulation will rely on this new tribunal, the Scottish Government does not expect registration of letting agents to start before January 2018.

However, the timetable in the Housing (Scotland) Bill 2014 cannot be altered and the draft Code of Practice must still be finalised by the end of January 2016.

The programme at this event is extensive and varied and a must attend for anyone working in the PRS sector. Our Managing Director, Jonathan Gordon, has represented the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) in all stages of the process in developing and designing both the new private tenancies bill and Letting Agent Regulation and will be presenting at the event in the afternoon on Letting Agent Regulation.